Registered Breeders and rescues

[Fluffball]

Hi all,

Recently ive been looking into rescues near me and many of the sites I visit recommend ''if you cannot adopt a guinea pig from us we recommend a registered breeder''

I really dont understand this logic. The registered breeders sell to pet stores and private parties. The pigs that are sold to pet stores will be sold to third parties and may even be bred.

Even if they carefully ''choose'' a pet store ultimately they do not know where these animals will end up. And the ones they sell to private parties they cannot control how the animal will be treated even if they do check ups after. That animal may be bred. The only way is to neuter their animals and I doubt they would want to invest their money in that.

And lastly the unwanted animals will end up in the rescues. It doesnt make sense. Should I ignore this statement made by the rescue and just adopt anyway? Even though they suggest supporting breeders who by all means inadvertantly support the dumping of homless guinea pigs by selling to pet stores in the first place?

Confused

[CavySpirit]

Which rescue sites are recommending a registered breeder?

[Ly&Pigs]

I would find other rescues that don't promote buying from breeders of any kind.

[OliviaP]

I suppose if you were in dire need of a cavy and had no rescue close by but there was a registered breeder near you who didn't sell to pet shops then I cannot see the harm.

A breeder I know (who is with a club) only sells privately through her home. She does not sell to pet shops or at shows and breeds very few/year. She has a waiting list but does not breed for demand.

As rescues are so few and far between in Australia then I think the next best option to a rescue would be a registered breeder than travelling long distances to obtain a cavy from a rescue. That's not to say just any old breeder. Check the place out and ask what their code of ethics are and check out the cleanliness of the place, same as you would for a rescue. If you're not happy then don't buy.

[Weatherlight]

Originally Posted by OliviaP

I suppose if you were in dire need of a cavy

What human is in such dire need that it's worth supporting the enslavement of another sentient being?

[OliviaP]

What human is in such dire need that it's worth supporting the enslavement of another sentient being?

Well if this was to be said to everyone who was going to buy from a recommended registered breeder then cavy ownership for Australians would be just about non existent, unless they supported petshops.

I would have adopted guinea pigs from a rescue if I was able to. Because the closest rescue is a 6 hour round trip from where I live I chose to purchase from a breeder who had been recommended to me. I wasn't going to subject cavies to a 3 hour car ride in a restricted cage where they would most probably be petrified for a good part of the trip.

[Ly&Pigs]

I wasn't going to subject cavies to a 3 hour car ride in a restricted cage where they would most probably be petrified for a good part of the trip.

I had a pig that traveled from where I live in North Central Arkansas to New Orleans a year ago in a cat carrier and she made it there just fine and dandy. This is no excuse. Most pigs do pretty well with traveling.

[OliviaP]

When I had my first pigs 15 years ago I moved from Newcastle, NSW down south - 6 hour car trip. I had the pigs, cat and dog checked by a vet to make sure they would travel well and to see if any sedatives were required (especially for the cat). The vet gave them the A-OK and we were on our way. We stopped every hour and checked the pigs, gave them a drink and let the dog out for a wee. About 4 hours into our trip one of the pigs was looking a little sick. We pulled over and I fed some greens thinking that she was dehydrated. She got worse over the next hour and we pulled into a town about an hour from our destination. I went to the vet there and she died while I was in the waiting room. The vet said that the cause of death was more than likely from the car trip and motion. It was not a hot day (nor was it cold). The car (a station wagon) was plenty ventilated as was the cage. The pigs were healthy upon leaving. I'm so wary of travelling with pigs now. That incident has made me not want to take risks.

The person I know who breeds pigs has had them travel on planes before and I don't think she has had any issues with that.

Maybe there was an underlying problem with my pig 15 years ago. Just seems funny how she went from healthy and happy before the move to being very sick during the car trip.

[Maisiepaisie]

If there are no local rescues with guinea pigs why not advertise yourself that you will take in guinea pigs? I put my name down at a local rescue that took in dogs, cats, rabbits and goats but not guinea pigs and I got loads of calls from that.

I agree with this statement from Weatherlite: 'What human is in such dire need that it's worth supporting the enslavement of another sentient being?' Much as I love having guinea pigs I feel that in an ideal world we should not be breeding animals to keep in cages. It's just not right that we can 'own another living being. I will always take in unwanted guinea pigs but I'd prefer it if all breeding would stop and all types of animals were only found in the wild.

[Bellebelle]

The closest rescue to me is almost ten hours away, i got pigs from there. I had them flown down from Brisbane to Williamtown, they did absolutely fine, and it didnt really cost that much. Jess was kind enough to leave off the adoption fee as i was already paying $80 toi have them flown down so it worked out to about $26-27 dollars each.

Emma

[cavy-cool-crazy]

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

I had a pig that traveled from where I live in North Central Arkansas to New Orleans a year ago in a cat carrier and she made it there just fine and dandy. This is no excuse. Most pigs do pretty well with traveling.

I have to back this up as well. I have four pigs. I didn't travel far to adopt them, but I move around a lot. In my lifetime I have lived in 15 houses - almost one per year of my life. We have had 8 pets over this time, all of them have travelled with us, even abroad. While I have only had pigs for 3 years, my first pig Charlie has lived in 5 different houses in that time and even been on 4 hour car journeys for a short holiday with me.

In August 05 we moved from SE England to Northern Ireland - almost the length of UK. This involved 10 hours of travelling, including leaving the animals in the car under deck for an hour on a ferry. My pigs were prefectly fine. So long as you give them attention and reassurance, talk to them and give them a few little treats and just treat them normal, the majority are perfectly fine.

Piggy trains happen all the time, where people do stints of travelling with a number of pigs to get them to there new home i.e. one person travels from A to B with 5 pigs, drops them off to the person at B who then keeps hold of any who are staying in the area (to give to someone nearby who wanted to adopt that pig), person B transports the remaining pigs and collects any on the way to person C, drops them off with person C etc. This way you don't have to travel far at all. Provided you know people in between where you are and where the pigs are, you can figure it out.
Those pigs manage just fine.

Travelling doesn't hurt a pig. Mine are 'gypsy pigs' in that they move around a heck of a lot more than 90% of pigs do, and they are as healthy and happy as any other. All you have to do is treat them normal and give them a little extra attention if they do appear scared. As for enclosing them in a tiny space, many cat carriers are pretty big. One in particular I have is big enough for a pig to stay in for hours - just add lots of hay to hide in and they will manage with it. They will forget about it once they are in their normal cage; mine are proof of that. They couldn't care less about the journey once they've reached their destination.

I do understand that in Australia pig rescues aren't as abundant as in other countries, but there is at least one Australian piggy rescue registered here with at least 70 odd pigs who I'm sure could discuss the issue with you.

[Bellebelle]

Yeah enchantingcavy was who my guys came from. Shes quite happy to fly pigs down.

Emma

[Gunnedah]

I find the pigs travel well and have also had some flown from inter state. Alot of the registered breeders here also take in rescues, they seperate them as soon as they come in, dont let them have litters (unless the sow is alerady pregnant) and people come to them wanting to adopt.

[enchantingcavy]

Hi Guys,

Yeah I've sent many pigs on flights to different locations around Australia I wouldn't do it if the guinea pigs health was at risk but if the guinea pig is healthy and is carefully transported and given correct amounts of fluids/feed for the trip then their is really no reason for a guinea pig to die or suffer ill effects from the trip unless they are a very very stressed guinea pig in general in which case I wouldn't let the guinea pig fly. I've also taken my own guinea pigs on interstate family vacations in the past with no effects from the long drives. A guinea pig wouldn't know it's being driven for hours like we do as all they are doing is sitting in a comfy cage with food and water just like they would be at home.
In saying this the adoption process is a little trickier with interstate enquiries. It's trickier to screen those who wish to adopt as you can't meet them in person so more often than not the adoption process can take several weeks before someone is allowed to adopt as all aspects from general care to getting to know more about the home the guineas are going to can take a little longer and you want to be 100% sure that the guinea is going to a good permanent loving home as it sure isn't as easy as bringing the pig back to the sanctuary in person if something in the persons life changes and they are unable to keep the pig.

In saying this I wouldn't send a guinea pig on a trip through several means of transport to get there and i wouldn't send them on a flight that wasn't a direct line and only a few hours from one location to the other....

I have had a number of people get adoptables shipped interstate from here because they don't want to support petshops or breeders it's amazing that some people will pay that small amount extra to give a special homeless piggy a wonderful new life it really is a beutiful thing.

Fluffball have you tried your local RSPCA? I don't like putting this on people as i know not everyone wants to go that extra length to ship pigs from interstate but we do ship from the rescue here if you're ever interested...

Jess

[Sabriel]

My pigs have to travel 4 hours round trip just to see the vet. And that's 4 hours on public transit in a kitty carrier. They do just fine.

Could I go to the vet 5 minutes away? Sure, but they would not get the excelent care they do across town.

[enchantingcavy]

Hi Guys,

Bleh ok I'm going to stop holding back I have been holding back on here from what I really want to say fearing what some aussies on here might think but what the heck...this is where i stand in guinea pigs and I should be proud of it it is only those that havn't quite closed one door once they've opened the other that are not seeing the full picture.


I used to be a breeder mind you my process was nothing like most anyhow I always had my own signed papers when people would buy from me and I also screened people to the high hills and never petshopped/never bought from a petshop and didn't like the way half the breeders kept their animals and I'm not saying this to defend what I did I am saying it so that people are aware of the type of person I was to start with. I've owned pigs since i was 9 years old and only came into the whole breeding world for around 2 years I have perfectionist tendancies and have a feeling i was drawn into it due to this and also for the fact that breeders themselves were so friendly to me my family was going through alot of problems at the time and I needed to escape and be around people that made me feel good...it was only after a while that I realised exactly what I was representing and contributing to and realised that what was " at the scene " at a show was not always what was going on " behind the scenes " it is what goes on behind the scenes in the breeding world e.g. how the animals are kept at studs, how the animals are bred and sold, how many animals are bred and sold, where the animals are sold to and simply put how they are viewed that is the problem. I've quickly come and gone I don't need someone to judge my guinea pigs and tell me it has perfect features or not I don't need to perfect and use an animal to make myself look good breeding mass numbers to perfect a colour/markings or coat. I don't value my guineas on whether they have a ribbon to prove their worth or not. I don't need to stress my guinea pigs out by grooming them to perfection then making them sit in 20cm x 20cm show cages all day just for my benefit. I have witnessed and heard of several guinea pigs dying from the stress of grooming and just general show stress. Can I just say that in my time breeding the pedigree guinea pigs have more health problems that carry on in lines than my pets ever did. Fatty eye, satin lines bred continously even though they are so weak most die at around a year of age, roans and dallies bred to each other resulting in lethals having to be euthanased over and over again just so the correct amount of good markings can be created, breeders killing their own babies they've created just because they don't conform to a standard that humans have created for them...perfectly healthy guinea pigs being killed because they're not perfect! I look back now and it's just disguisting...what's most appauling to me is that breeders justify themselves to the high hills it's amazing how they can justify what they do .

More and more people are drawn to the breeding/show world and it's only because of one thing..it comes down to one thing in my eyes....the social aspect...here in Australia there has never been any other social occasion for guinea pig owners to be able to come together there are barely any guinea pig products over here in australia and the only thing australian guinea pig lovers have where they can meet likeminded other are the shows over here....you are loved for breeding and using guinea pigs for your own social benefit over here. New guinea pig owners meeting other people at shows then going home to breed and keep guinea pigs without even stopping to think about what they are really doing or contributing to.

Breeders that I knew/know have told me that we don't need rescues here in australia they also tell me that it must be only here in Queensland where the homeless guinea pig problem is...but you know what...that is simply because they havn't opened that door or their eyes I never even saw the problem until I opened mine. I have received over 100 rescue guinea pigs in the past year and these arn't just healthy animals walking through the door 90% of them have been sick and mistreated guinea pigs needing psychological and medical attention.
There has not really been an organisation presenting proper care and getting knowledge out their for piggies until recently apart from the show/breeding organisation. In the past year as a rescue organisation we've been working out butts off so to speak to get good knowledge sent out in qld. Several petstores were reported and dealt with, several guinea pig breeders and owners were reported our Queensland RSPCA has changed dramatically with their entire guinea pig adoption process aswell. We've been holding displays and the support is growing.
One in every two to three people that I have run into with our public displays has shocked me and the other volunteers with the way they value these beautiful animals...I don't believe Australia dosn't have a problem I think the problem is that Australia has always had a set standard or value they place on a guinea pig and it is very widespread and that's why you wouldn't think guinea pig mistreatment occurs here....because the value for these little guys has not been set very high they are still treated as the cheap backyard disposable pet by so many and this has been ok for so long...just because guineas are viewed the same way by many dosn't make it right.


It is true the rescues in Australia excluding the rspca, the acs sanctuary and a couple of other animal rescues that focus on other animals although still take in piggies on occasion....the other piggy rescues of Australia I believe are also breeders. I know a local breeder and rescue that breeds constantly all year long the babies often advertised throughout the year and the excess petshopped at a petshop they say is reliable and good then they still continue to call themselves a rescue. There is no point of rescuing guinea pigs if you ar contributing to the problem with your own. Some breeders state that they screen buyers and only sell non breeding pairs to pet homes and breeding pairs to breeders but that is still contributing to the problem. If a person sells guinea pigs to a breeder then the breeder will naturally breed and do what they want with the offspring